wtf?

[ratcreature]

Okay, the phrasing in this BBC article is really awful. It talks about the Andaman islands, and an isolated indigenous tribe. And it has this sentence (paraphrasing an argument for creating some sort of buffer zone between the tribal area and the rest of the island): "[...] the Jarawas should be totally isolated from human habitation and no commercial activity be allowed near their habitat." Seriously, that article talks about these people like giant pandas, as if they weren't humans as well.

Comments

[parhelion]

I used to hear talk like that back in New Mexico all the time. You know, non-native Americans saying things like "Oh, television antennas shouldn't be allowed in the pueblos. Television is so corrosive to their culture and the antennas look terrible." Because Fates Forfend any member of an indigenous culture should chose what aspects of their own culture they wish to retain, rather than an outsider choosing the delights of Nativeland for them.

(Sorry. This is a personal sore point; I hope it didn't come out as a rant.)

[lanning]

Wow. Yeah, that's blatantly offensive. I'm not surprised, though -- it looks like British attitudes toward the indigenous people of the Andamans hasn't changed much since Conan Doyle's day.

[sholio]

*boggles* WTF. You know, what bothered me the most about the article (besides, like you said, talking about a group of human beings like they're freaking animals in a zoo) is that no one seems to have even thought of ASKING them what they want. The government doesn't seem to have established diplomatic communications with them or anything of that sort. It's nice that the government isn't simply running amuck over them (and wow, how depressing is it that it's pleasing and impressive when a government doesn't do that?) but they are obviously interested in learning about the outside world -- asking for cell phones and schools -- and it's morally disgusting to let them die of easily preventable diseases under the guise of "keeping them pure" (or at least not to give them the OPTION of having access to hospitals and antibiotics and vaccinations, god! -- some people avoid such things on moral or religious grounds and they might choose likewise, but there's a difference between that and not giving them a CHOICE).

[dragovianknight.livejournal.com]

Oh, but it's so terribly exciting to be able to observe the primitives in their natural habitat! :P

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Then again, the Jarawas didn't seem to want any contact until recently, and the Sentinelese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese) definitely don't. Contact with "civilised" people doesn't seem to have provided them with anything good or useful so far.